Axial splitting of empty and foam-filled circular composite tubes – An experimental study

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of polyurethane foam-filler on the axial splitting process of circular composite tubes under the axial quasi-static loading, experimentally. A shear mode of failure in circular composite tubes is initiated by crushing the tube onto a conical die to absorb the energy. The effects of conical die angle, number of fiber fabric layers, resin type and also, diameter and fiber fabric type of the tubes on axial load, energy absorption and specific absorbed energy by the structure are studied. Experimental results show that the polyurethane foam-filler increases energy absorption capability by the tubes. Also, it is found that in the investigated domain, composite tubes with smaller diameters are better energy absorbers, comparing with the composite tubes with larger diameters. Experiments show that foam-filled circular tubes under the axial compression in the splitting process works as good energy dissipater.